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" CAPTAIN CASSATFS STATEMENT OF THE BENEFITS TO BE GAINED BY HIS PENDING NEW RULE ■ T p; K. l by |,i ei ei a m ti M js hi re in pi oi h pi tl to ic p ye tl y p, tl ai a p :l; as e i n ii tl n of a oi a t f. f1 h i ii a 1: h he M I ! q a a t to l £ v to | ■ i in 7 , N , , I r , i l . ; , ; . Th-re is now pending before the Jockey Club a tl motion for a rule prohibiting the racing of two- h to year-olds prior to April 1. this measure was proposed by the well-known owner and breeder, Capt. b It. Casaatt. It has been considered and discussed I the members of the Jockey Club, but action has O been deferred in order that there may be a confer- J eme on the matter with the Canadian HaciiiK Asso- in ii -hit ions and the Kentucky State Bactng Commission. 8 A- the rule, if adopted, could not become operative until next year, there is ample time to arrange for H this conference and such joint action as may re- 1 1. suit. In the meantime Captain Casaatt, in a recent tl is.-ue of the New York Sun. made the following n healthy ami Interesting presentation of his views in p regard to the matter: "Sir: This is a plea for the young thorough ci bred race horse. If you will liear with me. I si propose briefly to set forth the object of tile thor- H oughbreda existence, to irive a little description of a his life, to point out the evils resulting from f premature racing, to show what has been done in ii this country and abroad to put a stop to it. and T try to answer some of the objections to pro- tl posed racing regulation for curtailing early two- e year old racing. t •I think no one will dispute the statement that p the pros erity and efficiency of the horse papain- a tion of any country is a direct function of the pros- a perity and efficiency of the thoroughbred. Where the thoroughbred does not flourish the saddle horse ;l and the light draught horse quickly disappear, and .j with them goes a most important factor in the rj prosperity of the state from a commercial as well v, from a military point of view. If any doubt ,, isis as to this, the costly efforts made by ier- niaiiy. Austria and France to encourage the breed- j| in Ing of the thoroughbred should be proof enough y that he is not a luxury, but a necessity. "To produce thoroughbred horses in sufficient u number* and of proper type for the improvement the general breed of h ran nheaid then be the p object of both government and private effort. "The race horse is usually foaled between Janu- in j, ary 15 and May 18, the average date lioing some ,■ time in March. Be is officially one year old the D be following New Years Day. He is the most care p fully reared of the domestic animals. "His mother is especially fed before and after i his birth with a view to expediting and Strengthen- . isir his growth. He is weaned al about five months, a and in in thai time on he lives on the fat of the 0 bind. "lu the lite summer of his yearling year, or when . is about seventeen months old. he is broken to saddle, and throughout that autumn he N mildly v, rained until at the end of November he is able to g undergo a test of a quarter mile to three-eighths of j it mile: this mild early training being not so much i tad out what In can do as slightly to burden his hones, espccallv those of his legs below knee and t bock. a "From this time on two different methods are in h vogue iii his training. By one method he is asked y do nothing but eat anil grow, having only such J gentle exercise as will cause him to develop prop | oily until about March or April, when his serious J training begins. By the other method he is kept on 1 rigorous training until he is started in races on 1 January 1. when only twenty-one months old or less. I and kept at it until be wears out or breaks down, j which in the majority of cases takes place within tive or six months. "Under the best conditions of the above tirst 1 method of training there are but few two-year-olds £ who do not have to run for their lives in June or o July. The thoroughbred, although one of the earliest of horses to mature, does ant become fully level- t oped until well on in his three year-old year, and in • my opinion no technical knowledge is necessary to enable one to realize the dreadful harm done to the animal by requiring of him such an effort as racing when his bones are in their soft, formative state. t The skeletons of such of the famous English I race horses as have been examined sufficiently show . the crushing effect on the spinal processes of weight carrying at tender ages. i "The proof of the pudding is in the eating and of i 1.065 two-year-aids which ran iii races in l.HO only 04 ran as four-year-olds in 1912. For the Improve- Hunt of the name population of the country as i well as for carrying on the thoroughbred breed the thing required is a sufficient number of sound four I year-old stallions of proper c information which have proved their quality and stamina by the test of i raring, and it is my fixed opinion that two-year-old training and racing is responsible for the loss to the country of vast numbers of horses which would otherwise be available as stallions to cross with told-blooded mares. "Baring is necessary for picking out the best In- dividuals to continue the breed and for eliminating the unworthy, but why eliminate by such drastically destructive means when a little more time given tl h to b I O J in ii 8 H 1 1. tl n p ci si H a f ii T tl e t p a a ;l .j rj v, ,, j| in y u p in j, ,■ D be p i . a 0 . v, g j it i t a h y J | J 1 1 I j 1 £ o t • t I . i i i I i ■+, Q the young horses would save so many useful ones the breed V "Luiopean governments and raring authorities have recognized this by restrictions placed upon two-year-old racing. In England no two-year-old can run before the Epsom summer meeting, abonl June 1. in any- race with more than .. IMXl added: France no two year-old can run before the last J Sunday in July. ,l at "I.ast January I proposed to the Jockey Club a «" rule prohibiting two-year-old racing before August but at the suggestion of other members 1 changed 0 the date to April 1. hot because i bad changed 1 my mind, but because 1 could see no possibility of f passing my amendment with t lie original date. is ■ "The three principal turf governing bodies on this A A continent are the Kentucky State Kaeing Coumiis- c sion. which controls Kentucky racing: the* Canadian tl Kaeing Associations, which controls Canadian racing, a and the Jockey Club, which by law makes rules for racing in New York, and extends its supervising tl Influence to all racing in the Atlantic coast, states, a These three bodies have nothing in common, but t they try to work in harmony and each gives full I effect iii its territory to acts of the others tending C toward the repression of fraud and other Improper ■ practices. Acts of turf discipline by any of them " are recognized by the principal racing authorities h abroad. "It would be unwise, inexpedient, discourteous w and. last but not least, impracticable for the Jockey club alone to attempt to force upon the I] Dnited States and Canada such a change in turf 0 regulation as is involved in my proposed amend- a meat, the text of which is as follows: • "No horse foaled in hflfi or thereafter shall run « any race before April 1 of his two-year-old to h year under penalty of thereby disqualifying him- Ii self for all races under these rules until after I December 31 of his two-year-old year. V "The Jockey Club therefore on September 9, 1913. passed the following resolution: "That the members of the Jockey Club approve 1 theory the above amendment to the rules of t racing and that the chairman of the Jockey Club appointed a committee of one to act with full t power and to arrange for a meeting with a repre- h sentative of equal power from the Kentucky State e Kaeing Commission and the Canadian Kaeing Asso- S riattona, and that an effort be made to bring about an agreement on the early racing of two-year e ohlS. ■ "I hope sincerely that the result f the meeting cl contemplated in this resolution will be the adoption 1 by all three bodies of a rule setting a date before i in which no two-year-eld can race. I am convinced n.ost firmlv that the later this date is the better p will be for the welfare of the thoroughbred in a this country. I "The principal objections to the curtailment of I two-year-old racing comes from racing associations and from certain breeders. The former do not see t how raring programs can be made up without two- i year-Old races, hence a falling off in gate receipts. v My answer to this is that If we do not allow two- i in year-olds to run we will find available for three- j year oM races the very horses whose maturing j, bones have bee n saved from destruction by my , prohibition, and that after the first year of the s new ei nditicins racing programs will be made up just as easilv as liefore. "Certain breeders believe that the auction value of Mailings is increased by the fact that purchasers by running their colts in January can more quickly get a return for their money, and these breeders for obvious reasons are opposed to my proposal. This seems to me very much like killiag the goose that I I laid the golden egg. for there is nothing more cer- tain than that premature racing will eventually de- ■troy the breed. "I go back to the SOs and early 90s when there J was no early two-year-old racing such as we see it now. and 1 do not remember hearing any complaint from the MeGratbs, Swigerts, Alexanders, Reeds. J Hardings or Harpers that they could not sell their ■ voarlings. "Borne uo so far as to assert that early racing is not harmful, but these people do not deserve to he answered. i "When I think of the number of my fathers and my own good two-year-olds broken down by too . much and too early racing, for everybody has been mere or less guilty, and when 1 add to these personal experiences the experiences of nearly ajl train eis and owners of race horses and the opinion of nearly every one else connected with racing and ■ with the thoroughbred, I feel Justified in asking for the support of a newspaper of The Suns standing in the community in bringing the matter before that part of the public which, while not particularly interested in racing, is vitally interested in the horse as a factor in our commercial prosperity and military efficiency. K. I!. CASSATT. "Chesterbrook Farm. Berwvn. Pa.. September IV
